Having lived and worked in Houston, I don't think zoning would have changed things for the resident quoted. The existing use would have remained until redevelopment, so the warehouse would have remained in operation even if zoning had been approved.

"We do not need any other Tutankhamun's tomb with all its treasures. We need context. We need understanding. We need knowledge of historical events to tie them together. We don't know much. Of course we know a lot, but it is context that's missing, not treasures." - Werner Herzog, in Archaeology, March/April 2011

Having lived and worked in Houston, I don't think zoning would have changed things for the resident quoted. The existing use would have remained until redevelopment, so the warehouse would have remained in operation even if zoning had been approved.

Agreed. Texas has some of the strongest continuing use/non-conforming use protections you'll find. There is an amortization of nonconforming uses method available, but it is wrought with headaches & potential for litigation.

As far as land use controls go, a lot of people don't realize that Houston does effectively have a sort of zoning through a tapestry of various performance standards and ability to enforce certain deed restrictions. But at this point, the city is so far down the rabbit hole that I don't think you'll see meaningful zoning created. I mean, this is a state where we are now frequently seeing legal challenges to zoning & comprehensive plan adoption in several cities (Plano, Keller, Sugar Land... to name a few).

"Oh, that is all well and good, but, voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same way in any country."